


Dangerous

by RoyallyJeleanor



Category: The Royals (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-12
Updated: 2015-08-12
Packaged: 2018-06-05 23:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6727369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoyallyJeleanor/pseuds/RoyallyJeleanor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Something with the quote ‘Maybe that’s why she does the things she does, because no one has ever fully stopped her and that kind of freedom is dangerous.’</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dangerous

**Author's Note:**

> Situation: It’s been a few days since King Simon’s funeral and King Cyrus is on the throne. Although Jasper is no longer Eleanor’s bodyguard he has been helping Ted and Marcus to try and identify the King’s attacker. Ophelia has returned from New York to attend the funeral and support Liam.

Jasper paused as he passed the doorway to the grand dining room. Glancing in he couldn’t help but smirk at the scene in front of him, the country’s most dysfunctional family sat around a table together trying to present the image of domestic love and support. However if you looked closely enough you could see the cracks easily – Eleanor’s chair was pushed further out from the table so that’s she could prop her knees on its edge and see was tapping something out on her phone, ignoring the food in front of her while Liam sat with his arms folded, purposefully avoiding his uncles smug gaze.

As she aimlessly scrolled through her phone Eleanor caught the sight of a man dressed in black out of the corner of her eye. Glancing up she was surprised to see it was Jasper and as an instinct she immediately averted her gaze back to her phone, feeling a flush spread through her cheeks.

Rolling his eyes Jasper carried on down the hallway, shoving his hands into the pocket of his hoodie. Eleanor had barely spoken to him since the King’s death except to discuss any new information he discovered about her brother’s death or father’s attacker. She did however manage to remind him of his indiscretion with the Queen at every opportunity she got, as if he wasn’t already beating himself up about it already.

Jasper knew that he couldn’t blame her for being angry with him; he knew he had destroyed whatever small hint of trust she had in him. Nonetheless, he wanted more than anything to be there for her now when she was in pain and grieving but she wouldn’t let him close, instead pushing him away as much as she could.

Sighing Jasper made his way out into the gardens surrounding the palace and made his way over to a small wooden bench that was far enough from the palace for him to go unnoticed. Sitting down he stretched his legs out in front of himself and rested his head back, closing his eyes as he listened to the soft chirping of birds swooping around the treetops.

Closing her book Ophelia looked up at the dusky sky. She must have been out here for hours but now it was too dark for her to read and so reluctantly she stood up, grabbing her soft blue blanket, to make her way back inside.

As she walked slowly along the stone pathway that wound its way around the gardens she caught sight of a small, yet bright flickering flame in the distance. Curiosity overtaking her she diverted off the main path and began making her way towards it. However, as she did so the flame disappeared for a few seconds before it flared up again only to become dimmer.

Stopping behind the bench she realised that the flame had been used to light a cigarette and grey smoke was now being carried away with the gentle breeze. Squinting in the darkness she tried to work out who was sat there but she had to make her way around to the front of the bench before she could recognise the figure.

‘Jasper?’ she asked in a confused voice.

Hearing the sound of his name Jasper jumped and his eyes flew open to rest on the person now stood before him. ‘Ophelia? Are you okay?’ he queried as he straightened out on the bench. He wasn’t sure how long she had been stood there and her presence had startled him.

‘Yeah I’m fine; I was just walking back inside. Are you okay?’ she replied warily. She had barely ever spoken to Jasper and when she had it had simply been polite conversation so she wasn’t sure what to say. Instead she just watched him, waiting for a response and was confused when she saw his surprised expression at her question. ‘What?’ she asked self-consciously.

Shaking his head quickly Jasper tried to smile at her, ‘nothing, it’s just that I don’t think anyone around her has ever asked me that before.’ Not wanting to create an awkward silence he moved over to the side of the bench and indicated for her to join him, ‘do you want to sit down?’

‘Sure,’ Ophelia replied after a few moments, lowering herself down to sit beside him.

‘What were you doing out here?’ Jasper asked her as they both stared out at the dark garden before them.

‘I was reading. My mum had a huge bookcase filled with all of her favourites and so I like reading them,’ Ophelia replied, showing him the book she held in her hand.

‘1984, I’ve read that,’ Jasper told her, ‘it’s pretty good.’ After a few moments of silence he continued quietly, ‘I’m sorry about your mum.’

‘Thankyou,’ Ophelia smiled at him, wrapping the blanket around herself. ‘So why are you out here?’

‘I just wanted to get away from everything in there for a bit. I wanted some time to clear my head and just sit,’ he replied honestly.

‘How are things between you and Eleanor?’ Ophelia asked carefully. Eleanor had told her that Jasper had returned but other than that she had refused to talk about him.

‘Erm,’ Jasper began before realising he didn’t know how to explain it. ‘Not great. I did something stupid and I don’t think she’ll ever forgive me. She barely acknowledges me anymore and she certainly won’t let me get close, not that I can blame here.’

‘Whatever it is, I think she’ll forgive you eventually.’

Smirking slightly Jasper turned to face Ophelia, ‘Eleanor does whatever she wants to do, whenever she wants to do it. There’s no guessing what she’ll do next.’

‘Maybe that’s why she does the things she does, because no one has ever fully stopped her,’ Ophelia murmured quietly.

‘But that kind of freedom is dangerous,’ Jasper responded in a low voice. ‘If she starts spiralling she’ll hurt herself and someone needs to stop her before she does.’

‘I think you’re the only one who could stop her,’ Ophelia told Jasper earnestly.

‘I’m just her former bodyguard, she-,’ Jasper began before Ophelia interrupted him.

‘Don’t give me that nonsense! You were more than just her bodyguard. She wanted you around; I mean she hadn’t had a bodyguard for more than 6 weeks before she got you. If she didn’t want you around you wouldn’t be.’

Furrowing his brows for a moment Jasper thought about Ophelia’s words.

‘Talk to her,’ Ophelia instructed Jasper as she stood from the bench. As she began walking away from him Jasper could simply shout his thanks at her retreating back. ‘Good luck,’ was all that Ophelia replied before she disappeared down the path.

Letting out a long breath Jasper looked up at the stars now twinkling gently in the sky.

Eleanor was laid on her bed, staring aimlessly up at the ceiling when the doors to her bedroom were suddenly opened and Jasper stepped into her room. The simple entrance was so familiar that Eleanor nearly rolled her eyes, about to come out with some quick, witty response when she remembered that her and Jasper no longer took part in that banterous game.

Part of her longed to go back to that, ironically it seemed so much easier than what they shared now. Her plan had been to try and push Jasper away so that he couldn’t hurt her again but instead it had left her craving his company.

Standing up from her bed she hastily smoothed her dress, ‘what are you doing?’ she asked him, trying to keep her voice sounding cool and distance.

‘I could ask you the same question,’ Jasper replied, meeting her gaze as he moved closer to her, closing the doors behind him. When he saw her confused expression he continued, ‘avoiding me, pretending you don’t see me or that you haven’t heard what I’ve said. I’m tired of it.’

Taken aback by his abrupt response Eleanor tried to act shocked, ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

Rolling his eyes Jasper stepped forward so they were mere inches apart. ‘You may be able to act all cool and uninterested with other people without giving them an explanation but not with me. I want to know why you’re avoiding me.

’I, erm,’ Eleanor stuttered before stopping, not having a reasonable explanation. With Jasper this close she was wondering herself why she had been avoiding him.

‘You may be able to do whatever you want to some people but not me. They may be too scared to say anything or stop you but I’m not. I’m going to be here for you whether you like it or not and I’m going to stop you hurting yourself.’ Jasper drawled seriously. ‘So you can stop avoiding me.’

Nodding Eleanor stepped closer to Jasper. No one had ever forced their way into her life like Jasper had and no one else had refused to leave. The thought that he cared enough about her to stick around made her insides feel warm. Although he was restricting her freedom Eleanor felt safe knowing that he was going to be around.

‘You need my control now more than ever; having too much freedom is dangerous.’ Jasper watched as Eleanor’s cheeks flushed a bright pink and her eyes darkened. ‘Now, do you want to talk about it?’

Jasper froze as he watched tears from in Eleanor’s eyes. Hastily brushing at her face she turned and moved to sit on her bed, letting out a big sigh. ‘I feel so conflicted,’ she muttered. ‘Part of me is pissed at you for everything you’ve done and the other part of me needs you around.’

Stepping forward and sitting beside her Jasper asked her quietly, ‘which part are you going to listen to?’ When she shrugged gently Jasper held her chin and forced her to look at him. ‘I promise I will not hurt you again.’

Staring into his eyes Eleanor realised that she knew he was telling the truth, ‘I believe you,’ she whispered. Right at that moment Eleanor knew that he was right about her freedom and about her needing some form of control and she didn’t want anyone but him to give it to her.

‘Come here,’ Jasper murmured and when he opened his arms for her she immediately moved into them, comforted by his embrace.

Jasper smiled and briefly closed his eyes, happy to be close to Eleanor again and happy that she was no longer ignoring him. After a few moments he heard her drawl, ‘Don’t get too used to this, I don’t usually do hugs.’ With that Jasper felt a smirk pull at the corners of his mouth, the Princess he knew was back.

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own The Royals or any of the characters. Please do not steal this work.  
> (Hope you liked it, I know it’s got little Jeleanor action but I thought it would be interesting for the conversation to take place between Jasper and Ophelia. I feel like this was quite different to my usual stories so I’d love to hear what you think).


End file.
